We are obligated to achieve similarity of form with the Creator—this is the goal of creation, or in other words, it is inevitable. And if we do not want this, then the upper force, like caring parents, will punish the son until he gets it because they understand that there is no other way. Love for the child obligates them to punish him. It is written, he who spares the rod, spoils the child.
But, needless to say, this is an undesirable path, not out of love. That’s why there are two paths: the path of the Torah and the path of suffering. And these paths do not go in different directions, but rather advance side by side. If at each moment on the path I am not advancing in the right direction or at the right speed, then I immediately draw a reaction from the upper force because of its absolute love toward me—either positive or negative.
This reaction shapes me. The question is only the degree of my sensitivity and awareness that always, at each moment, I am under the control and authority of the Creator. No matter what passes through my thoughts or desires, in my actions or in the entire body, I must only think about what the Creator is doing to me.
In other words, I must always remain in the thought that there is none else besides Him who brought me to a given state and within it gave me a little freedom to realize that I can try to become similar to the Creator or to my Pharaoh. In this lies the essence of the entire work of an individual.
There is none else besides Him—this is the truth, that is why I need to rid myself of all imaginings that there are multiple forces that affect my existence. There is nothing other than the one force.
But if I am confused, then I imagine a thousand different forces and I, as if, distance myself from the Creator, from the one source to ten, to a thousand sources that impact me. But this is absolutely untrue and it leads me away from the path of truth.1
The work in Egypt is already work with respect to the Creator; only initially we think that we can advance with our egoism, with Pharaoh’s full consent. We think that we can unite and reveal the upper world, the Creator, the upper force, and reach perfection and unity—as our ego imagines it. This is called “seven years of satiation.”2
Shame in spirituality is entirely different from what it is in our world where we feel shame because some unseemly acts are revealed and became known to others. Spiritual shame appears when I am dissimilar to the Creator. This is the exact cause of shame that brought on the first restriction in the world of Ein Sof (infinity).
It is as if I am sitting across from the master and see that He gives everything and I receive everything. I discover that I am the one receiving and therefore am different from the Creator, the giver. And that is why I hate this quality in myself, this desire to receive, because I cannot be rid of it.
Look at what the Creator did with me. I hate this poison within myself and I am powerless to rid myself of it. And even worse, I am constantly demanding it or else I cannot live. Only when I decide that death is better than this kind of life am I freed from evil, and the Creator reveals to me that there is life above the will to receive.
But, in essence, my whole life is fully within this egoistic will to receive; I depend on this pleasure and cannot hide from it. I hate it and cannot live without it. It is a terrible state that takes me through the ten plagues of Egypt because I do not know how to rid myself of it. I feel that it is poison, but I must take it, otherwise from what source will I live?
My entire life is fed exclusively by this poison. I need this snake; I only hope that it does not run away from me because if it does, I will have no pleasure at all in life and I will die.3
There are many levels of shame. It is only shame that forces us to rise to a higher level: always higher and higher. Shame, the recognition of evil, is the sole reason for rising higher.4
The Creator is the good that does good because He changes our sensory organs, giving us the possibility to understand what is genuine kindness and goodness. But nothing really changes in our daily lives. Life is only meant to bring us to the point of making the right choice for the real life.
We change our values, and then with new values we discover a better life. But it doesn’t mean that life itself changes. It is only with our new values that this life seems more pleasant to us. After all, each judges according to their own flaws. We need to change our qualities, then we will see an ever more benevolent world. The entire world is absolute good; the Light of Ein Sof fills the entire reality.5
What prevents us from living well with such high levels of technological advancement? Why does the Creator keep ruining our lives by colliding us with each other every day? Because otherwise we would not need Him. And the good is only in the adhesion with the Creator. That is why the Creator created all the contrasting forms—in order to show us that we can only experience the good when we are in absolute bestowal toward Him.6
Pharaoh is necessary; he acts to our benefit, helping us escape egoism. It is specifically Pharaoh who is responsible for bringing the nation of Israel closer to the Creator. There is no more loyal angel to the Creator than Pharaoh, our egoism, our snake. That is why all medicine is made from poison.7
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/26/18, Writings of Rabash, “What Are Banners in the Work?”
No comments:
Post a Comment